Friday, January 11, 2008

When Rich Rodriguez bolted West Virginia not long before the Mountaineers BCS bowl game against Oklahoma, even though Michigan was the beneficiary, I felt bad for WVU fans. Michigan grabbed their basketball coach last year and now had their football coach. A beloved, homegrown figure who had steered their program to a regular spot among college football's elite.

So I understand why they were mad. And they let Coach Rodriguez know it.

According to the Detroit News story linked above, Coach Rodriguez's mother says her family has suffered insults, vandalism and even death threats since her son left for A2.

Arleen Rodriguez said her grandson, a senior in high school, has gotten death threats and threatening notes stuck to his locker. Her 12-year-old granddaughter had to be escorted to her class. In addition, "the girl went to a friend's birthday party recently and presented the friend with a WVU purse. Arleen said one of the adults there remarked that the gift was nice, but would have nicer had it come from a true Mountaineer."

Are you kidding me?! A true Mountaineer? What, one who threatens high school kids and says shit like that to little girls? That makes me sick.

There is no excuse for such crap. None. Jesus Christ, there's a war going on and you stupid fucks are leaving death threats over a coach taking another job?! Get. A. Fucking. Life.

Because anybody who does this stuff isn't a true fan, just a true asshole.

49 comments:

Agreed about the family bashing, but the lady is also complaining about people making fun of RR (example: throwing darts at a picture of RR) and wants the people to be happy for him..... I would be upset if my coach skipped town as well, not happy.

I am surprised by the vehemence and stupidity of the idiots in West Virginia. Until now, I thought this kind of behavior was the exclusive domain of british Soccer "fans', mourners at Iranian ayatollah's funerals, and Bammers.

The death threats in Morgantown have been occurring since the Pitt loss. Before hillbillies start crashing the board with the canned, "it happens in Ann Arbor too"...

...NO IT DOESN'T!

Michigan's coach lost 5 of the last 6 to Michigan's 100+ year rival and nothing like what has been going on in WV remotely happened here.

And another thing, other than the hooliganism, the common refrain about R2 from Mountaineer nation is that he did it for the money. REALLY? If R2 did it for the $$$, why didn't he bolt for 'Bama the year before?

I'm biased but based upon the stories coming out of WV, I would have got the he|| out of there too.

I think you mean "conscience", but it's a wonderful point. Unless yoou really meant "concious", in which case it begs the questions: does that make drunken, rioting coach burning idiots the unconcious? Everyone say it now- O-H!.......Oh no! Not the handcuffs!

I couldn't agree more with this post, and it's exactly what I've been telling West Virginia fans I know. I would be upset if a coach left one of my teams(and they have), but this is quickly getting out of hand. There are FAR greater problems right now than college football

before hillbillies start crashing the board...wrong for so many reasons:

-typewriters can't access the internet-Appalachia Online still connects by tin can and string modem-too busy googling their sister to blog with folks outside the family (if you know what I mean)-can't see screen anymore due to too many stamps already afixed from trying to send hate email to RR-smoked last three spell checkers

As a WVU fan and alumni, I have to say that the people doing this to his kids are ridiculous. We do have a lot of ignorant rednecks back in WV. However, not all of them are, so calling them all hillbillies is similarly ignorant. There are ignorant assholes everywhere, including NYC (where I now live) and I would presume the great state of Michigan.

I, for one, am ignorant to the indication there may be ignorant ignnoramuses indigenous to our incredible state. If this in fact is indeed indisputable i would be undeniably indignant. Anyone whos says different would be a lying liar who lies a lot. understand?

"I just said there are ignorant assholes everywhere and you are helping to reinforce my point."

"yeah... my asshole busted its ass over many years of hard work at a top university. It is hardly ignorant."

I believe while dezzi's comment was a clever repose on the juxtaposition of smart and ass, you are stating merely you're asses lack of ignorance while putting forth its "hard work". Does this indicate increasing incontinence on behalf of you ass? If so they make something for that.

Yeah, I saw both of those articles, too. But I can see his point because OSU has had soooooo many tremendous starting QBs in the NFL like....um....well....I think Art Schlichter started a couple of games before switching careers to a convicted felon.

michigan as a state has no right to put anyone down. Ever hear of the malice at the palace back in 2004. If any of these michigan fans are also piston fans then they have no right to talk about having class

"michigan as a state has no right to put anyone down. Ever hear of the malice at the palace back in 2004. If any of these michigan fans are also piston fans then they have no right to talk about having class"

Let's compare, shall we? 1. Multi-millionaire professional athlete who is 6-7 and weighs 246 lbs. goes into stands after average joe, because someone threw a cup at him, inciting riot.

2. Grown men insult 12 year old girls and send death threats to someone's family because he switched to a better job.

I see your point. These are EXACTLY the same.

Now, another comparison: 1.Your post.

2.The post of a sleep deprived ferret hopped up on crystal meth.

These too are exactly the same.

Oh, wait- no they're not, because the fuckin ferret would make more sense. Seriously, I hope you live in a one level house, because I know donkeys can walk upstairs but not down, and you sir are a jackass. You'd get trapped up there and starve to death. Actually I rescind that comment because it's unfair to the noble donkey.

My God man, the only way you should ever be allowed to breed is if we determine chimpanzees are getting too intelligent and we need someone to dumb them down. That could be your chance to do something historic. Other than being the biggest idiot I've ever had the displeasure of reading, that is.

So here's what perplexes me. (Other than the way someone possessing the IQ of a can of chicken noodle soup has survived long enough to post on this blog)

I understand that you judge a person on their history, and R2 has a history of running a spread option, primarily geared toward the run. He has had success with this. He also has a history of adjusting his offensive schemes to his personnel. He has had success with that as well. Now everyone (media, etc.) is assuming he'll stick with the exact same spread option attack, but ignore one glaring fact. R2 has never, ever had access to the kind of talent he'll be able to pull now that he's recruiting for the maize and blue. It's like the difference between Bridget Moynahan and Giselle. One is extremely attractive, the other is worth $140 million dollars because of her looks. Hmm, think there's a bit of disparity? He now has full license to do whatever the hell he wants from a scheme standpoint. The mad genius has just been built a $10 million dollar lab by Pfizer. Why isn't anyone talking about this? Is it stupidity? Ignorance? Sensationalism? Seems to me you could generate a great amount of interest by playing up the "they could be anything" angle than the "same old Rodriguez destroying the old Michigan traditional angle. Jeebus it's frustrating.

josh,first, sports writers can be pretty lame. if you cover college football, this time of year has to be really dull.

maybe they sit around and speculate because they don't have anything to do and are too lazy to actually investigate anything new?

trying to figure out just who R2 is chasing right now would take a lot of leg work. maybe it's easier to just conject what "might be" based on what "used to be".

what's really odd is how little the detroit/main stream press has to say about this that's original. the best analysis i've read yeat (in the "real" press) is the article that appeared weeks ago featuring the Charleston paper's beat writer for WVU and his thoughts on R2 in A2. amongst many other ideas, he speculated that R2 would change some aspects of his game planning, O and D, based on new levels of talent available to him at Michigan.

but that kind of speculation requires a great deal of prior knowledge, or a lot of research. much easier to just look at the offense in the Fiesta Bowl and boot strap that.

Yeah, SIC, I think you're correct and part of it may be laziness and the need to fill a certain amount of space in a short amount of time. My biggest gripe with that is that it feeds the lemmings who depend solely on the Detroit Press and the coconut telegraph to get their news and form their opinions. Given the level of intelligence of our general population I find it frustrating when the people in the business of informing them drop the ball.

FWIW, everyone I know is freaking out right now over the level of change going on in the program. My brother is easily one of the most level-headed people you will ever meet, and he's totally nervous. I had my own freak out moment at work yesterday and come up with a rather apt analogy which I'm still working on, but it's gonna be one hell of a ride. Anyone else experiencing the same?

What's going to be interesting to me, just as a football fan, is how his 3-3-5 defense is going to work with the superior talent he'll attract at Michigan.

Offensively, the man's a proven commodity at multiple levels of competition. Once he gets "his" players in, they'll come from far and wide just to gape in awe at the Michigan offense.

The WVU defense put up some good numbers this season, statistically speaking, but how much of that is due to that highly ranked ground attack, eating clock like Mangino at a Chinese buffet. How much of that is due to the level of competition (especially on defense) in the Big East?

And this is all assuming that he's even going to run the 3-3-5 scheme. He might look around and see a surplus of d-line and linebacker talent on hand and scrap it all for a 4-3-4. Was the 3-3-5 just a strategic adjustment to Louisville's pass-happy attack, or did he just not have much in the way of defensive line inventory at WVU?

I'm hoping that he keeps it, just to see what happens on a bigger stage.

josh,i'm just the opposite. i've grown so weary of losing bowls, to tosu/wisconsion/app st....

i think it's wonderful. when we finally dumped herrmmaann, i thought "now things will be different". but that was only partially true. watching the bowls this year, i realized- we used to be like that- even when we lost, we were still good.

i'm up for the risk if that's what it takes.

and speaking of change-

http://www.mgoblue.com/facilities/article.aspx?id=104582

they're having a "fire sale" of all the old weight room equipment? can you believe we actually had the team working out on machines instead of free weights?

I think that the "Michigan Man", that is those men who have been rooting for Michigan since they were born are the ones that may have more of a tendency to "freak out" or get nervous over the drastic changes that are being made. In all honesty, what was known as Michigan football ended with the tOSU game. I say that because the Bowl game was obviously something different than we have seen before. (and there is a large part of me that wishes we had seen it on September 1st and the following week, hell he entire season!) But I digress........I think the "Michigan Men" are going to have a bit of anxiety over the changes, but I do believe that they will come around because Michigan football is going to be superb, and like SIC said, GOOD, even when we lose. (I almost can't remember how that felt anymore!!) I think that is what I hated so much about the tOSU game. If we had played good and lost, then, ok, but to play like we did and lose, that just really sucked. Anyway......my point, which I am not making very well......likely do to the margarita I had at dinner.......(double...ha!) Tradition is difficult to give up sometimes and I think the MIchigan men are getting a bit antsy about that. I don't think that the base line tradition is changing.......we will remain Michigan Football, we just might go about winning in a whole different way, and that my friends is damn exciting!

I'm all about the change, all about Ninja Football. Mallet leaving did give me a bit of a freakout moment (My bro is predicting Mallet to TN and a NC for them with him at qb, ha! If we don't get Pryor I'm gonna be talking him off a ledge) but I'm mainly just excited.

And Debord to TN? What the hell are they thinking? My prediction for Mallet, btw, is he ends up wherever Loeffler is if Loef makes a decision soon enough. That man will make an excellent head coach some day, maybe for us in 15 years. Keep an eye on him wherever he goes.

I really liked Loeffler and I would have liked to see him stay (Campbell and Bedord as well) So I will keep an eye on him. Did you read the article though, that said that Loeffler did not like Mallett. Somewhere I read that and it may have been at the beginning of the season. I think that is interesting now that the speculation is that Mallett will go where ever Loeffler goes.

I am watching the Cap.One Bowl game again.......such a great game, it is even better when you know the ending and are not sitting on the edge of your seat, pulling out your hair and screaming.......NOOOO HART DID NOT FUMBLE>>>>NOT ON THE ONE YARD LINE>>>>OH GOD IT IS OVER NOW!!!!!!!!!! ROFL!

When I heard about all of it that was my first reaction. Complete freakout. After my co-workers splashed me in the face with a bucket of water to break through the catatonia and I remembered to breath (and that Harlem globetrotter showed up with the bucket of confetti- how do they do that?!!) I was searching for an analogy to come up with the level of nervousness I'd just experienced. I decided that level of freakout should be reserved for when you slip one past the goalie and your whole life is about to change. What I came up with is this....

Michigan Football, The Teen Movie

Scene 1: It's a nice day in Ann Arbor and Our Hero, Michigan Fan Base(MFB for short) has just left class and notices he has voicemail. Who is it? The hot, sexy girl (Ashley Rodriguez) he's been seeing from down the hall? His ex-girlfriend (Jen Carr), the high-school sweetheart who went to State and they thought it'd work out but now everything's just so different? Or is it another one of those weird hangups he's been getting? Could it be his friend/respected semi-nemesis (Buck) from high school who's got a lot of potential but went to that school in Columbus to play football and has a propensity to party too much? Let's find out shall we? And...ACTION!

MFB dials his voicemail, throws his backpack over his shoulder and heads to the union to meet Ashley. Being that Michigan is having it's warmest January day in years, he is able to relax and get lost in thoughts of...

Ahh, Ashley. So hot. So smart. So not like Jen. You know, we had a lot of good times, but it's so nice to have someone who's not so conservative! She'd never be up for that party this weekend. Ooh mental note:buy dog food. It's supposed to be nice out so he we can play with his Mallett tomorrow, maybe a picnic in the Arb. Great little guy, I just wish he wouldn't chew on my shoes an pee on the rug. *ring* what the? Oh yeah, voicemail .

Ah, Buck, how does he get so much tail? Seriously that guy sees more ass than a toilet seat. Course there are those rumors about Roofi-coladas, and that Clarret chick gave him crabs that one time. No, he's too upstanding for that. No way. I prefer to believe the best about him. Even if he does wear that ghay sweatervest all the time.

Message 3: "All right you little fucker. This is West Virginia. That's right piss-wad. You know me, I'm sure Ashley talks about me all the time. You know Ashley, the girl you been impressin with all your fancy wurdzz, and your book lurnin', and your big "Budget" and "support staff". I'm gonna kick your ass dude. Don't lay another finger on her.I mean it. She's mine. She'll always love me. Oh, and that "spread offense" she runs? Yeah she did it here first. And you know what, she's not even that good at it. Yeah, that's right. She better not come back here that little slut, 'cause I'll kill you and her and her family and then I'll make a youtube video about how much I don't care and what a slut she is and I'll burn that t-shirt that says "Ashley and WV 4 ever." And that was a nice shirt, all airbrushed fancy. I bet you don't know nuthin' about airbrushed t-shirts do you boy? I'm gonna-"

*MFB deletes msg* Seriously, how did she ever DATE that guy! What an asshole

Message 4: "Hey MFB......look, I know you've been getting a lot of hang ups lately.....and, well, it's me. Look, I'm late. As in LATE, LATE. I don't know how it happened but we need to talk about this, but Ive got class for the next 4 hours and then my Dad's picking me up for my sister's birthday party and I won't be back until monday so I'll talk to you then, ok. Just take the weekend and think. Even though we don't know what's going on yet, it'll be ok. Let's just talk about US when I get back and everything else will work out. Ok? I gotta go....bye. Oh, and Scott came bye and took Mallet. Said since he was Jen's friend first and you guys bought the puppy as roommates he thinks he should have it. I know you love that puppy, but really, all he ever did was pee on the rug and pout about it. Don't call me, just think. Gotta go. Bye.

Do to some inexplicable chain of events, MFB goes on a weekend long search for a pregnancy test, in which the following things happen:

Scene 2. MFB arm wrestles a nun, hilarity ensues. Scene 3. MFB eats psychedelic mushrooms and falls head first into the fresh lobster tank at Meijer, then mistakes an Emu for Jimmy Clausen, hilarity ensues.Scene 4. MFB ponders life in conversation with his friends. Hilarity does not ensue.Scene 5. MFB gets hit on by a tranny who resembles Charlie Weiss, spends $38.75 at Taco Bell (a virtually impossible feat), and surprise! Hilarity ensues.Scene 6. Ashley Comes back, turns out she is pregnant. MFB hopes she's as cool as she seems and really likes the way she's open and communicates (Not at all like his ex). Hopes the fact that she's “innovative” isn't a euphemism for “she's a slut”. Hopes she's right when she says she heard about this new breed of puppy named a “Pryor” that's great and hopefully won't pee on the rug and pout about it and maybe they can find out about it together. Everyone lives happily ever after.

Scene 7. As our hero drives off into the sunset and the credit roll, MFB's phone rings- it's Buck.

MFB: “Hey Buck! What's up buddy? How'd your night with SEC go?”Buck: “Let's not talk about me- how's Jen?”MFB: “Aw, man, we broke up. But right before she decided we needed to have a threesome with LSU's cousin, Florida. Totally pounded her. And Jen wasn't like herself. If she'd been that way all along maybe thing's would be different. But hey I've got some news, but first- what happened with LSU man? You score or what?”

Buck: “Ah, man, I don't know what happened. So much pressure, and- swear you won' t tell anyone? I laid an egg. I couldn't get it up.”

The End.

This could've been so much better but I'm in a hurry. And besides, if the movie sucks, they can always release a Director's Cut three years from now where it turns out Ashley Rodriguez wasn't pregnant and MFB ends up with the girl from high school who's always been in love with him, the one who's kinda crazy yet strangely passionate and attractive: Leah Miles.

josh,that was scary, wierd, and yet oddly intriguing. you can almost see a young john cusack playing mfb. sort of a "gross pointe rodriguez".

personally, i'd have scripted it more along the lines of a middle aged divorce story (been awhile since i've been in school).

we had been happy for years. then the fire died out and we drifted apart. we tried to work it out, but we'd take one step forward ('06) and two steps back ('05 & '07).

we had some flirtations w/ a southern belle during the seperation, but that didn't work out, and honestly, she was just a reproduction of the ex.

once we came to our senses, shaken by both rejection and relief, we quickly fell for the sexy, younger one. the complete opposite of the ex. the wild one who did all the things and went all the places we never went before. wild, exciting, a whole new world.

you know her/him: the one everyone told us wasn't "right" for us. that it wouldn't work out. that we were just on the rebound and it would leave us worse off than before.

anyway, that would be my middle aged plot line. and to the extent that this is in anyway autobiographical, also why i'm more comfortable w/ this new ride w/ R2.

Scary, weird and yet oddly intriguing? eh, ok i can take that. I relate way too many things to movies, but the reaction I had was seriously like I'd slipped one past the goalie with the dream girl I barely know after just breaking up with the safe girl who wasn't all that bad. And it's been way too long since I've been in school, too, but i figured everyone's seen one of those movies, right?

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